12/10/2024
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1840294109/golden-hour-at-joshua-tree-national-park
Just listed in the shop, Golden Hour at Joshua Tree National Park, May 2018. The iPhone commercials make you believe that you can just walk right up and pop this off, and sometimes you can. But this photo took me all day to make. I drove several hours to reach the site, and brought with me my East Coast bias that *of course* all National Parks have concessions and lodging in them.
Nope. Not Joshua Tree. In fact, there was a sign at the park entrance saying "There is no gasoline, no food, and no potable water available inside this park. If you need any, turn around now, go fill up, and then come back." Well. Turns out I needed all three, so I went on a shopping trip and came back to the entrance gate a second time.
I stalked a perfect location for this photo, but by the time I found a good place, the sun was low in the sky and I would have to wait to see whether this would work or not - talk about putting all my eggs in one basket! I had already put 8-10 hours into making this photo, hadn't even shot anything yet, and would have no opportunity for a second try because the sun would be gone.
I dodged rattlesnakes and scorpions. No water, no food, no cell phone service, just me and the Mojave Desert. But then. Boom. Just as I hoped for.
How long did it take to make this? Well that depends on how you count. The shutter was open for 1/2000th of a second, but if you count from the time I left lodging to the time I returned, well then it took me 15 hours to make just this one. But it was worth it and this is a special treasure for sure, views they don't have in the East.
I will continue to be listing many more over the coming days and weeks as I work to reopen the shop.
